The Last Ship Renewed, Heathers Pilot Ordered, and Tyrant Cancelled

TNT has renewed The Last Ship for an additional fifth season. FX has cancelled Tryant. A Heathers TV pilot has been ordered by TV Land. Before the Fall TV season goes into full swing, TV networks are making decisions that will effect its slate in the future. That included pilot orders, renewals for summer programming, and cancellations for summer. In the last few days, some of those announcements have been released.

What was surprising about the The Last Ship renewal is that The Last Ship was already renewed back in July 2016 for one season (Season 4). TNT is obviously very confidant in its series and that its viewership (an average of 7.1 million) are sustainable.

TNT, a division of Turner, has extended its recent renewal for The Last Ship, adding a fifth season of the epic drama. Currently in its third season, The Last Ship is reaching an average of 7.1 million viewers per episode across multiple platforms and ranks as one of basic cable’s Top 10 summer dramas with adults 18-49. The action-packed series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), with the season finale slated for this weekend. The entire third season is also available through TNT’s digital, mobile and VOD platforms.

In July at the Television Critics Association’s Summer Press Tour, TNT and TBS President Kevin Reilly announced The Last Ship had been picked up for a fourth season. Today’s announcement expands that renewal to a fourth and fifth season, each with 10 episodes.

“The Last Ship has taken viewers on an exciting ride through three truly thrilling seasons,” said Sarah Aubrey, executive vice president of original programming for TNT. “We look forward to watching the cast and production team ratchet up the drama, action and suspense even more over the next two seasons through summer 2018.”

The Last Ship stars Eric Dane, Adam Baldwin and Bridget Regan. Based on William Brinkley’s popular novel, the series chronicles the aftermath of a global catastrophe that nearly decimates the world’s population. Because of its positioning, the Navy destroyer U.S.S. Nathan James avoided falling victim to the devastating tragedy. Now, CNO Captain Tom Chandler (Dane) and his crew must confront the reality of their new existence in a world where they may be among the few remaining survivors.

The third season of The Last Ship also stars Charles Parnell, Travis Van Winkle, Marissa Neitling, Christina Elmore, Jocko Sims, Bren Foster and Kevin Michael Martin. The series is produced by Turner’s Studio T in association with Platinum Dunes, whose partners – blockbuster filmmaker Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form – serve as executive producers. Co-creators Hank Steinberg and Steven Kane also serve as executive producers, along with director Paul Holahan. Kane will serve as showrunner, having previously served alongside Steinberg for the first three seasons.

Regarding Heathers, Leslye Headland will be directing the dark comedy pilot episode. The Heathers pilot will be written by Jason Micallef. The pilot episode (and possible series) will be based on the 1988 cult film.

The cast of characters will not be the same as in the Michael Lehmann‘s film according to The Hollywood Reporter:

It features a new set of popular-yet-evil Heathers — only this time the outcasts have become high school royalty. Heather McNamara (originally played by Lisanne Falk) is a black lesbian; Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty) is a male who identifies as gender-queer whose real name is Heath; and Heather Chandler (Kim Walker) has a body like Martha Dumptruck.

Apparently the new series in the anthology format like FX’s Fargo.

Tyrant, one of FX’s summer TV series, recently premiered the finale for its third season. It has recently come to light that its third season will be its last.

The official press on the cancellation of Tyrant:

FX announced today that Tyrant’s season 3 finale airing tonight will mark the conclusion of the series. For three thrilling seasons,Tyrant followed the intrigue and exploits of an American family drawn into the inner workings of a turbulent Middle East nation.

“It’s very difficult to find common ground with other people whose stories we do not know or understand,” said John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions. “The creators of Tyrant have done their utmost over three seasons to tell American audiences a tiny fraction of the many gripping, human stories coursing through the Middle East today. We want to thank Howard Gordon, Chris Keyser and their talented team of collaborators, including all the writers, directors, cast and crew, as well as our studio partners at Fox 21 Television Studios, for taking on Tyrant’s tremendously ambitious story with such profound dedication and respect.”

“Tyrant is a beloved show to all of us at Fox 21 Television Studios, and we are indebted to Howard and Chris for their incredible work, and to John Landgraf and everyone at FX who have been fantastic partners,” said Fox 21 Television Studios President Bert Salke. “We feel the show is a gem and we’d love to find a way to keep it in production. That said, we want to be realistic about its prospects. So for its loyal audience, tonight’s episode will be a satisfying end should the series not find another home, but also provides interesting possibilities should we be able to continue on some other platform.”

About the author

Rollo Tomasi

A Political Science and MBA grad who started FilmBook during an eCommerce B-School course in 2008. Cinema and TV addict. Former writer at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and Alternative Film Guide. In addition to writing for FilmBook, he also edits the copy published on the website, manages its writing staff, manages the back-end operations, site finances, its social network accounts, and works with publicists, actors, and companies on press coverage and promotions. He has also created ProMovieBlogger.com and Trending Awards.com.